


A Dream is a Wish

by WaxRhapsodic



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Battle of Five Armies Fix-It, Declarations Of Love, Engagement, F/M, Female Bilbo Baggins, Female Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield, Fix-It, Healing, Love Confessions, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 03:49:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16339259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaxRhapsodic/pseuds/WaxRhapsodic
Summary: Thorin is dying on the ice. Bella watches the light begin to fade from his eyes. She has to try something-anything to save the dwarf she loves. But how will he feel about the consequences of her actions?





	A Dream is a Wish

Bella ran down the icy stairs, heart in her throat. Thorin Thorin Thorin. His name the very beat of her heart. She could finally admit that to herself after everything, after all this she loved him hopelessly. Helplessly.

She couldn’t imagine a world without him.

Her heart stopped at the sight of him sprawled on the ice so much like a broken doll.

“Thorin! Thorin!” she slipped and slid to his side, the ice so cold it felt hot against her bare feet.

She knelt at his side, hands fluttering helplessly as his life bled away before her very eyes.

“Burglar,” he rasped weakly. Eyes bright with purpose. She couldn’t fathom why he looked so happy to see her. “I am so sorry... that I have led you to such peril...”

“No! I am glad to have shared in your perils, Thorin. Each and every one of them. It is far more than any Baggins deserves!” she swore truthfully.

Thorin coughed, a deep, wet sucking sound that signaled death more surely than anything Bella had ever heard. It was a sound that would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life. “Farewell, Master Burglar. Go back to your books... and your armchair... plant your trees, watch them grow. If more people... valued home above gold... this world would be a merrier... place...”

“No! No, no, no! No! Thorin! Thorin... don't you dare! Thorin... hold on. Hold on. Look. The Eagles. The Eagles. The Eagles are here. Thorin!” she wept brokenly, cradling his head in her lap. “Don’t leave me!” she begged, he lifted eyes and for a moment she was filled with hope until she saw the light in his eyes flicker.

She slid a trembling hand into the gash in his armor and pressed as hard as she could wishing, hoping, and praying for him to stay for just another moment, for an hour, for the rest of their lives.

Heat flowed through her, heating her palms where they rested in his hair and on his chest respectively. It may have been a trick of the light of the fading sun, but for a moment they shimmered in the light of the fading day.

Thorin gasped and arched up as though pulled by a rope set into the center of his chest, clamping one hand over his buckled armor where Azog had sliced through his flesh.

“Bella,” he whispered eyes wide with shock. She held his gaze, tears flowing freely down her face and dripping from her chin to run down his cheeks.

Then they were airborne, being taken to a field hospital at the base of the mountain. Bella kept her hands in place, so relieved to have this moment. So grateful to have this dwarf alive in her arms even if it was just the once.

Even if he never chose to let her near him again, she would always have this moment, something no one could take away.

Things after that rushed together in a blur. They were lifted onto a stretcher, Bella implored to keep her hand in place by an Elvish healer running alongside.

She obeyed, selfishly tangling her fingers into the curls spread across his abdomen, though there was nothing left to be done.

“It’s amazing he’s still awake,” she heard a dwarf say. “He’s lost so much blood.”

Indeed he had. Bella was exhausted.

She leaned against the tent pole of the surgery where he’d been taken, trying to keep her eyes open. She needed to learn the fate of her friends. Had anyone else from their company survived?

She must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing she knew Gandalf was standing at her side, one hand place lightly on her shoulder a look of deep concern on his face. “Bella, what have you done?” he asked softly.

Her eyes filled with tears again but held them back by dint of will. “I have to save him, Gandalf. I had to.”

He sighed and squeezed her shoulder gently, giving her an understanding smile. “He’s asking after you. He’s insisting that you saved his life. You must tell him what you’ve done.”

She didn’t want to explain to him, to see the horror and disgust in his eyes. The hatred that may have returned with his lucidity. But she had never been a coward and wasn’t going to start now.

She straightened her ragged blouse and skirt, wrapping her cloak tightly about herself. Wondering if she’d be forced to winter in the ruins of Dale or if she’d be able to make it at least as far as Rivendell before full winter hit.

Two heavily armed dwarves stood at the entrance to the tent, glaring at her. “This is the guest King Thorin requested,” Gandalf said, pushing her gently forward. They let her pass, but the wizard stayed outside.

“Burglar,” Thorin said, arching one thick eyebrow at her. He was sitting up on a field cot, draped in clean linen and layers of furs that pooled around his waist.

It was more of him than she had ever seen and she looked her fill, face flushing red at the amusement printed on his handsome face. “I’m not your Burglar anymore.” She said softly.

His small smile faded at the reminder. “You’re correct of course. I am sorry for my actions on the wall. I can never repay-”

She cut him off, moving across the tent to stand at his side, “I forgive you.”

“Bella-”

“You weren’t yourself.” She said firmly, holding his gaze until he relaxed. They had both been so horribly wrong. It was only now outside of the stress of the situation that she could see it.

“Will I be allowed to finish a sentence at some point?” he huffed a tense laugh.

 She ducked her head, chagrinned. “Of course, your majesty.”

“Thorin, please. I would have you call me Thorin. Always.” He took her hand in his and ran his thumb over her knuckles, setting her trembling again.

“Thorin then.”

His teeth flashed in a quick grin, bright against the darkness of his beard. “Bella, the healers tell me that there is no way I could have survived this wound, he gestured to the pale scar that ran down his side. “Yet here I am, healed as though I was never wounded. Some of them doubt that I was. They think I dreamed Azog’s assault and that the blood is his, though they can’t say how it came to be in my armor or how this scar appeared. You did something, you saved me.” He watched her as he spoke, trying to find the truth in her eyes.

She dropped her gaze and bit her lower lip, “Yes, I did. I didn’t know if it would work but I had to try.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “How did you bring me back from the very brink of death? I was stood at the doors of the Halls of Waiting but you called me home.”

Bella pursed her lips for a moment, reluctant to reveal the secrets of her people. But Thorin had a right to know how she’d saved him. What she’d done. “Hobbits have some small ability to heal small wounds and help things grow. I’ve never healed more than a scraped knee or sliced hand but I had to _try_ and… it worked.”

“So I see. I owe you my thanks yet again Master Burglar.”

“No, you really don’t,” she began shakily, allowing him to pull her to sit on the edge of his cot. Being in this position alone would be a scandal in the Shire. But that point was moot in light of what she’d done. “Thorin, I healed a mortal wound. Your…my…I-”

He wasn’t smiling anymore, face lit with concern. “What is it? Tell me.”

She sucked in a deep breath and continued. “I’ve bound you to me for life. When I die you will begin to fade, I saw this happen with my own parents. My father was grievously wounded after being attacked by a wolf and my mother told me she wanted to save him with all her might so she did. Anytime a hobbit has managed this, their life is bound to the one they’ve saved. We even have some small bonds to the plants we grow. I’m sorry to have done this to you but given the chance I would do it again. The world is a better place with you in it.” She said firmly, unable to regret her choice.

He gave her a searching look, blue eyes shining, “You saved me. Every day I live is thanks to you my dear hobbit.”

“Thorin, you don’t understand.”

He cut her off firmly. “I do. Because of your healing magic I have a chance to rebuild my kingdom and welcome my people home.”

“You’ll die decades sooner than you would have!”

“And if I’d died on the ice today?” She had no answer for that, hadn’t really considered it. “Bella, I cannot thank you enough except to offer you the rest my life, as long or short as it may be.”

Her heart fluttered at his words, at the warm look in his eyes. He couldn’t possibly mean…

“Bella. I thought I’d ruined any chance I had of you returning my affections, but in light of your actions today I have hope that you may harbor some tender feelings for me in return. I would ask the chance to court you and show you the true depth of my regard.”

Bella’s head was spinning. This couldn’t be real. “But… you need to marry a dwarrowdam. You need to father dwarflings.”

“Why? I have my heirs. They were wounded in the battle, but I’m told they’ll heal in time. Besides, neither of us is necessarily too old to create a family of our own.”

“If our blood can even mix,” she said softly, distracted by the very idea. She had long ago given up hope of having faunts of her own.

“If it can’t, I’ll be happy to have you at my side until the end of my days.” He hesitated after saying it. “Unless you want faunts. You’re right of course; there is no guarantee that our kinds can-”

She shook her head firmly, “No. There would be no guarantee even if I married a gentlehobbit. My parents were only able to have me after all and that was a near thing. That said emotions are running high right now. Things will be clear to us both after a nights rest. If you’re sure you’d like to court me, ask me again in the morning. I’ll give you my answer then.”

She was afraid he could well see what her answer would be. But she’d give him a chance to rest, to speak with his kin and advisors, a chance to change his mind. Their lives might be bound. They might share bonds of blood and battle, but she would never use them to keep him at her side out of a misplaced sense of obligation.

He sat back with an acquiescent nod. “I’ll see you in the morning, Bella.”

She refused to allow herself to hope. He’d had an emotional upheaval; there was every chance he would realize he’d asked to court the hobbit who had betrayed him so ruthlessly.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast and visit to see Fili and Kili. The first of whom was alert and most pleased to see her alive and well. The second was still under a sleeping spell to allow his badly injured leg to heal.

She grasped his hand tightly for a brief moment, letting a small amount of her energy flow into him to ease his path to healing, though she didn’t have much left after all she’d poured into Thorin. Tauriel smiled her thanks and promised to send word as soon as he awoke.

Bella had put it off long enough and made her way back to Thorin’s tent where two new guards had to be ordered to let her pass. Thankfully Thorin roared for them to let her in when he heard her being questioned. They jumped aside so quickly she had to bite back a laugh. He sounded back to his old self. The one she’d come to know and care for on their long journey east.

She stepped into the tent to see him pulling a shirt over his broad chest; she averted her gaze with a slight blush. He truly was the most attractive male she’d ever seen.

“You were less shy yesterday,” he teased, coming to stand at her side and take her by the hand. Her heart leapt to her throat when he knelt in front of her, eyes shining with hope. “Bella, will you do me the honor of accepting my courtship with the intention to marry?”

She gaped at him, not having expected him to come straight to the point. Having more than half expected him to have changed his mind. She’d planned to be gracious, to hide her broken heart and head back to the Shire as soon as the snows let up. “I- Thorin, I…”

He frowned slightly, giving her a moment to think. “Bella, do you care for me?”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Do you wish to spend your life with me? Here, in the halls of my people?”

“I’d like nothing better,” she whispered, throat tight with tears.

“Then let nothing else matter. Be my bride. Share my life, my halls, my kingdom.” He said softly, as close to begging as he could come.

She nodded, eyes bright with unshed tears. “I will. Of course I will, Thorin. Yes.”

He stood, towering over her once more and brought her hand to his lips in a chaste kiss. He smiled down at her with fond eyes.

She smiled back, feeling lighter than she had in weeks-months to be honest. “What do we do now?”

He gripped her hand gently “Now we live and simply do the best that we can.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“Of doing our best?”

She shook her head because of course they’d do their best. They owed it to themselves and their people after all they'd been through. “Of living. Of being together however long it lasts.”

“Me too.” He pressed another kiss to her knuckles. More grateful than ever to be alive, to do things properly this time. To have a chance to right his wrongs, all thanks to Bella, his love. “Me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> In this AU Thorin never held Bilbo over the wall by her neck. I can't see such an easy resolution to that particular incident. Basically he wasn't as gone on the Dragon sickness and the ring hadn't awakened and wasn't effecting anyone yet. Don't worry, they'll destroy it before it can do any harm. What did you think? I hope you liked it! Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a comment! I love them and will respond! xx


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